Nothomb Leaves Albin Michel for Gallimard

Amélie Nothomb said on 9 November that she is leaving Albin Michel, her longtime publisher, for Gallimard, in a statement sent to AFP, franceinfo reported on 9 November 2026, with AFP. She wrote: "Je rejoins les éditions Gallimard qui me font l'honneur de m'accueillir." L'Adolescence du perroquet, out in August, "sera mon dernier roman publié aux éditions Albin Michel", she added. The report calls her one of the most-read authors in France.

She had not confirmed the move until that statement. franceinfo reported that talk of a transfer had been going around publishing for several days, and that Le Parisien was among the outlets that had already written it up. As of that article, Albin Michel had issued no statement, and neither had Gallimard.

Thirty-five novels, then thirty-five more

She is 60 and has published thirty-five novels at Albin Michel since 1992, the year of her first novel, Hygiène de l'assassin, franceinfo reported. In the statement she said: "Après avoir confié trente-cinq romans à Albin Michel." And: "je publierai les trente-cinq prochains dans sa prestigieuse maison." franceinfo prints those lines with Antoine Gallimard named between them, and identifies him in brackets as PDG of Gallimard. The next thirty-five, she said, will be published in his house.

The departure, she wrote, "advient au moment où Francis Esmenard, mon éditeur, a choisi de prendre du recul". franceinfo printed that. She thanked him "pour sa confiance, ses conseils avisés, et sa fidélité".

Why she says the partnership is over

She regrets "le virage emprunté par la nouvelle direction des éditions Albin Michel", franceinfo reported. She wrote: "Je ne me reconnais plus dans ses valeurs, ni ses méthodes." As proof she cites the firing of Florence Godfernaux, whom the article, quoting her, calls her talented press officer and friend of thirty-three years. The report's quotation marks split that description, so the firing and the thirty-three years are her point as franceinfo relays it, not a single clean sentence reproduced here.

She said: "Le compagnonnage avec Albin Michel est désormais impossible, mais je n'oublierai pas les équipes qui ont œuvré à mon succès." franceinfo printed the line.

Her own words already fix the last Albin Michel title: L'Adolescence du perroquet. She has said the books after that are for Gallimard. When franceinfo went up, the two houses had still not confirmed the move.

Prizes she has, and the one she has not

Despite the success of her novels, she has never won the Prix Goncourt, franceinfo reported. She did win the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française in 1999 and the prix Renaudot in 2021, franceinfo reported. She is a member of the Académie royale de littérature de Belgique. She splits her time between Paris and Brussels, with a particular passion for Japan. Her work is translated into about forty languages, the report said, which is the article's "une quarantaine de langues", not a counted total of forty.

So the news is her statement, not a joint announcement. AFP received it. franceinfo published it on 9 November. Albin Michel and Gallimard, as of that article, had said nothing.

Photo: The headquarters of Éditions Gallimard (NRF), on the day rue Gaston-Gallimard was inaugurated, 15 June 2011. Photo by LPLT, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.